The Walt Disney Co. has come out swinging against activist shareholder Nelson Peltz's campaign to join the company's board of directors, saying the billionaire lacks a basic understanding of Disney's business and has offered no strategic ideas.
Disney, in a shareholder presentation published Tuesday, blasted Peltz and defended the leadership of Chief Executive Bob Iger and his landmark acquisitions, including 21st Century Fox, arguing that such deals transformed the company.
At the same time, Disney revealed that Peltz's entreaties to the company had the backing of a high profile and sharp-elbowed personality within the firm: Marvel Entertainment Chairman Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter.
